Samoa, 2003

Samoa warmly

welcomes the well-deserved election of Mr. Julian

Hunte, given his leadership in his region and among

our community of small States. Let me also pay tribute

to President Jan Kavan of the Czech Republic for his

effective guidance during the fifty-seventh session.

Unprecedented events since we met last year have

tested the very foundation of our Organization. There is

therefore great urgency for our membership to declare

anew our faith in the purposes and principles of the

United Nations. We need to assert, both in commitment

and in action, our support for fundamental human

rights and the peaceful coexistence of nations.

The range of challenges that now confront the

international community in our globalized and

interdependent world require that nations be united in

common endeavour. Only through cooperation and

multilateral joint effort can we hope effectively to

guarantee human rights and achieve peace and security,

and social and economic justice, for all. Samoa

therefore believes that the United Nations remains

uniquely suited to the pursuit and coordination of

global initiatives to attain these objectives.

To this end, Samoa firmly supports ongoing

efforts to reform and modernize the United Nations.

Substantive changes are required with regard to both

the General Assembly and Security Council, as well as

to other bodies of the United Nations system. We

certainly support the expansion of the permanent

membership of the Security Council to include nations

such as Germany and Japan.

Samoa adds its voice to the condemnation of the

atrocious terrorist attack on United Nations offices in

Baghdad last month, which took the lives of many

United Nations personnel, including the esteemed High

Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Sergio Vieira de

Mello. On behalf of my Government and of the people

of Samoa, I reiterate our very sincere condolences to

the Secretary-General and the families of those who

lost their lives or were injured in that terrible event.

Terrorism is an offence to humanity and goes

against the core values of the United Nations. Terrorist

activities around the world demand a continued and

concerted international response. States must be

determined in their national and collective efforts to

combat terrorism in all its forms. I reaffirm the strong

support of Samoa for the relevant Security Council

resolutions against terrorism. Those resolutions provide

a clear signal of our determination to suppress terrorist

activities, including those related to training, international

movement and financing. In this area, Samoa continues

to align its domestic policies and legislation with the

work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, as well as

to participate actively in the regional security measures

undertaken in the Pacific region.

We commend Secretary-General Kofi Annan for

his determination and efforts for the reconstruction of

Iraq. We recognize the enormous complexities and

obstacles of this task. But substantive commitment and

work must continue in providing humanitarian

assistance, as well as in restoring law and order. We

also firmly believe that continued engagement in Iraq

must take place with the full endorsement of the

Security Council. We pray for peace and security for

Iraq and hope that sovereignty will be restored to its

people as soon as possible.

Samoa is most seriously concerned about the

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction chemical,

biological and nuclear weapons. The determination of

some countries to try to bring such weapons into

existence particularly nuclear weapons is cause for

alarm and constitutes a serious threat to international

peace and security. The internationally agreed instruments

to control the manufacturing, transportation and

deployment of weapons of mass destruction must be

strengthened and implemented. Above all, States parties

must adhere and honour their obligations to these treaties.

Samoa joins the call for the effective disarmament and

total elimination of weapons of mass destruction.

We are appalled at the continuing suffering of

families and communities in all parts of the world,

especially in the Middle East and Africa. We can only

hope that the work to bring about stability in these

areas will succeed and that communities will finally be

able to live in peace.

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As part of its support for United Nations efforts

to ensure peace and security, Samoa is contributing to

the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Timor-

Leste. Together with members of the Pacific Islands

Forum, and under the leadership of Australia and New

Zealand, Samoa is also contributing to the Regional

Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, which is

helping that country to restore law and order and

assisting in its economic recovery. That regional

initiative was endorsed at the Forum leaders' meeting

last month. Its implementation conforms to regional

responsibilities under the Charter, and recognizes the

sovereignty of the Solomon Islands.

Samoa warmly welcomes the full

institutionalization of the International Criminal Court

and the election of its judges and officers. The Court is

a major achievement in upholding international

humanitarian standards and the protection of human

rights. In order to ensure that it fully achieves its

purpose, however, every effort must be made to ensure

its impartiality in bringing to justice those who commit

genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The

Court therefore deserves to be fully supported so as to

endow it with the strength of universality and the rule

of law. We look forward to its service to humanity.

Samoa reaffirms its commitment to achieving the

Millennium Development Goals and targets pledged

three years ago in this very Hall. While much has been

done, it is clear from the Secretary-General's report

that more work remains to be carried out. The goals of

halving poverty, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS,

providing universal primary education and reducing

environmental degradation all by 2015 can still

be achieved in the 12 years that remain. In order for

that to happen, States must improve on the political

momentum of the past three years and make good on

their promises.

Samoa recently hosted the Pacific regional

meeting as part of the preparatory work for the

International Meeting that will be held next year in

Mauritius to review the implementation of the

Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development

of Small Island Developing States. This ongoing

preparatory work in small island States is critical to a

comprehensive review.

The International Meeting next year will be a

unique opportunity for the international community to

assess progress to date and to focus attention on areas

where the expected results did not materialize. More

importantly, it should identify remedial strategies and

the required resources to assist small island developing

States achieve sustainable development.

While we accept the primary responsibility for

achieving the goals of the Programme of Action, the

reality is that the support of the international

community is indispensable to success. We therefore

urge the fullest support by development partners in the

review process and the implementation of the outcomes

of the Mauritius International Meeting.

Looking to 2004 and the work of the Commission

on Sustainable Development, we believe that the

agenda for the twelfth session is extremely important.

The Commission's work will incorporate preparations

for the International Meeting, but very importantly

it will also focus on the key issues of water and

sanitation. The significance of these issues for basic needs

and healthy communities cannot be overemphasized.

We note with concern the collapse of negotiations

at the recent World Trade Organization (WTO)

ministerial conference in Cancun earlier this month.

Certainly from the perspective of a small island

developing country like my own, trade is both a vital and

unavoidable component of sustainable development. We

therefore continue to urge that the vulnerabilities of

small States be taken fully into account in the

negotiations, particularly with regard to special and

differential treatment, implementation issues, services,

agriculture and non-agricultural market access.

I would like to express our appreciation to the

Secretary-General for his steadfast and astute

leadership, particularly during the dramatic events that

have tested the Organization in recent years.

Finally, the fifty-eighth session of the General

Assembly has a heavy and difficult agenda, and the

President has the full support of Samoa in the discharge

of his important duties.